The Notts Review • 10 October 2025

Hard Life peel back the layers of their new album 'Onion' ahead of Rock City show

It’s been a few years since I last spoke with Murray Matravers, frontman of Hard Life. Back then, the band was in full swing, riding the success of Life’s a Beach, a record that paired breezy optimism with biting social commentary. Today, we’re reconnecting in a very different context. The name has changed, and so has the mood. But Murray’s unmistakable voice and charisma remain. His new album, Onion, isn’t just a project - it’s a purge, following a tumultous year that would have seen many bands...

The Notts Review • 25 September 2025

Stevenson: The streetwear brand keeping Nottingham's grassroots music venues open

Stevenson isn’t just another streetwear label - it’s a love letter to Nottingham’s independent music scene. With a pledge to donate 10% of profits to independent music venues, through Music Venue Trust, the brand is blending passion with purpose to keep grassroots culture alive.Ahead of the launch on Friday 26th September, we interviewed founder Josh to find out more about the story behind the brand, its mission and what’s coming next…Firstly, what inspired you to launch Stevenson? How did the b...

DIY • 24 September 2025

Purity Ring - Purity Ring

After nearly a decade of weaving shimmering, otherworldly synth-pop tapestries, Purity Ring have returned with a self-titled fourth album, and it’s a thrilling evolution of their unmistakable sound. Fans of their breakthrough debut ‘Shrines’ and 2015’s ‘Another Eternity’ will discover something both familiar and strikingly fresh here. Where previous records fused eerie, body-horror-tinged lyrics with icy, futuristic production, this time Purity Ring take a bold leap into the fantastical and conc...

DIY • 24 September 2025

Night Tapes - portals//polarities

Most artists will say their music is shaped by their environment, but for London trio Night Tapes, it’s nothing short of fundamental. ‘portals//polarities’ is a deeply immersive journey that travels through the places and sounds of its creation across the globe. From a bubbling swamp in Tallinn, Estonia, to birdsong in Mexico and even a Los Angeles police helicopter, this debut boasts a wildly exploratory soundscape. Made quietly in a shared South London house - where Iiris Vesik, Max Doohan and...

Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews • 19 September 2025

Eades – Final Sirens Call | Reviews

Two years on from the hedonistic rush of their debut, Eades return with a record that trades chaos for clarity. On ‘Final Sirens Call’, their long-anticipated second album, they shed the last remnants of their scrappy post-punk adolescence and step firmly into a more refined, expansive sound – one steeped in Americana-tinged melancholy, mid-90s indie grit and the restless introspection of artists coming to terms with their place in a fractured world. Growth is placed front and centre, as the qui...

The Notts Review • 13 August 2025

Wet Leg live review – ‘Moisturizer’ era proves the fun never dried up

After their breakout self-titled debut, some wondered if Wet Leg would return. They did - and they’re bigger than ever. Sophomore album Moisturizer delivered another number one, celebrated with a run of out-store shows ahead of their autumn headline tour.ShareFrontwoman Rhian Teasdale, pink hair blowing in the breeze from an on-stage fan, led a just-shy-of-an-hour set blending new tracks with debut favourites. They opened with Catch These Fists, its punchy instrumental and flashing lights instan...

Clash Magazine • 9 July 2025

Midnight Rodeo - Chaos Era | Reviews

Having spent the last couple of years quietly building a cult following through electrifying live shows and genre-teasing singles that flirted with surf pop, Krautrock and garage-pop, ‘Chaos Era’ is the long-form statement that Nottingham psych-pop collective Midnight Rodeo have been teasing all along. Jumping into a full-length debut with only four singles to their name, the result is a technicolour explosion that revels in dissonance, danceability and – most crucially – the joyful disorder tha...

DIY • 12 June 2025

Pip Blom - Grip

After dipping their toes into the synth-pop pool on 2023’s ‘Bobbie’, Pip Blom have cannonballed back with tightly-coiled new EP, ‘Grip’. Written and recorded by Pip, Tender Blom and Darek Mercks in a home studio cocoon, this five-track effort finds the band at their most self-assured - and perhaps their most restless, too. ‘Ring’ is a glittery detour from the band’s indie-rock blueprint, pulsing with bright electronics and an emotional throb that feels raw and intentional. Opener ‘Temporary Love...